Cincinnati schools receive failing grades

The Ohio Department of Education released its annual Ohio School Report Cards Thursday. Assigning overall letter grades to each district and to each public, community, dropout, and recovery, and career technical school in the state.

It’s the second year in which districts and schools received overall letter grades. They are calculated using results in six components: achievement, progress, gap closing, improving at-risk K-3 readers, graduation rate, and prepared for success.

VIEW ALL REPORT CARDS: Click here to view the entire state report card or here to search report cards by school or district.

Cincinnati Public Schools received a D as an overall district.

The district received a D in the achievement category, an F in the progress category, a B in the gap closing category, an F in graduation rate category, a C in the improving at-risk K-3 readers category, and an F in the prepared for success category

Within the district, two schools received an A, five received a B, 19 received a C, 19 received a D, and 12 received an F.

Wyoming, Indian Hill, Madeira, and Mason are among districts that received a grade of A.

“We are proud of our students’ achievement, but we know that rankings don’t tell the whole story and that each district has a unique and important story to tell,” Superintendent of Mason City Schools Jonathan Cooper said. Our community has asked that our schools have a renewed focus on safety and mental well-being, that students get world-class arts and athletics experiences, and that children are immersed in innovative learning that prepares them for jobs that may not have even been invented yet.”

Other schools, including Loveland, Sycamore, and Springboro, received a grade of B.

State officials said the report card shows improvement statewide continuing the trend seen in recent years.

“This year’s report cards show continuous improvement is ongoing and that, across Ohio, we are getting better and better at challenging, preparing, and empowering each child,” said Paolo DeMaria, superintendent of public instruction. “We are seeing positive results from the focus on equity, partnerships, and quality schools for all students. I applaud the hard work by students, teachers, parents, and community members that has led to the progress we see.”

Statewide highlights in the report include:

Student proficiency increased for the third consecutive year in both English language arts and mathematics. Overall proficiency rates increased by 0.9 percentage points in English language arts and by 0.6 percentage points in math.

All student subgroups — including students with disabilities, students of color, and students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds — increased in proficiency in math and all but one improved in English language arts.

Across the state, 56.3 percent of schools increased their Performance Index scores this year.

The four-year graduation rate has reached a new high of 85.3 percent for the class of 2018.

Approximately 9,125 more students in the class of 2018 earned dual enrollment credits compared with the class of 2017.

An additional 2,711 students earned industry-recognized credentials this year.

The number of students scoring remediation-free on the ACT or SAT increased by 2,045 compared with last year.

Nearly 80 percent of districts received a C or higher, with more than 30 percent receiving a B or higher.

Approximately 70 percent of school buildings received a C or higher.

The overall grades of 666 schools also improved from last year, with 86 of these schools improving by at least two letter grades.